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Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Ten Halloween Reads that Aren't Horror

This time of year always makes me want to pull out some creepy reads or Halloween themed reads! Here are 5 of my favorites and 5 I'm hoping to get to this year.

Five Favorites

1. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - This gets classified as horror quite a bit which is not really fair to the book. It's creepy and eerie and unsettling but not horror. That being said this isn't a book I'd want to read while home by myself.

2. The Betrayed by Heather Graham - it only does this take place in the town where Sleepy Hollow is based around Halloween but there's also headless corpses and lots of ghosts. There's a little bit of romance and a big dog to take the edge off.

3. Splintered by A.G. Howard - So this really doesn't have much to do with Halloween but it's creepy and spooky and weird so that's close enough.

4. Witch by Barbara Michaels - I love Michaels' suspense novels and this one - complete with a ghost witch is probably the spookiest.

5. Trick or Deceit by Shelley Freydont - A murder that takes place in the middle of a haunted house competition. It's hard to get more in the Halloween spirit than that.

Five I Want to Read:

1. We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson - I love Shirley Jackson but somehow I've never read this book.

2. The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings by Edgar Allan Poe - I recently read a book that figured the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe and had a number of references to his writings. I've been wanting to do a big reread ever since and this is the perfect time of year.

3. A Good Marriage by Stephen King - I've somehow never read Stephen King but this novella is tempting me. Plus, I love the do you really know your spouse trope.

4. Stalking Jack the Ripper by Kerri Maniscalco - it's Jack the Ripper - I can never resist a Jack the Ripoer book and I've heard good things about this one.

5. Practical Magic by Alice Hoffman - So I'm not sure how Halloween-y this is but there's witches and an old house and I really just want to read more books by Alice Hoffman.

What books do you want to read this Halloween? What are some of your favorite spooky reads?

When I was a kid, Halloween, and the scary movies that went along with it, was all the rage. For some reason, I don't remember reading anything scary. Now, the best thing about Halloween is definitely the candy. (lol) Hugs...

I read the prequel to Practical Magic and if it is anything like The Rules of Magic, yes it would be perfect for Halloween. I never thought about it, but you are right, Splintered is a good one for the season! I have never read We Have Always Lived in the Castle, it might be a good one for me to check out for next year. I am doing a zombiethon this year. Heh heh. Thanks for the list. :)

I really enjoyed Practical Magic. I am looking forward to reading the prequel one of these days. Stalking Jack the Ripper is one I really want to read too. I am glad you liked The Haunting of Hill House. I haven't read it yet, but it's on my must read list. So many great books here for the Halloween season. These all sound like my kind of reads.